Of the Raven Haired Society
by of a glorious color
Summary: Raven goes on a huge adventure to save the Crystal of Light. my first story ever please tell me what you think!
1. Prologue

please, let me remind you that this story is totally my own, everything is made up, and its my first story ever. please, tell me what you think, constructive critiscism is welcome.

**OF THE RAVEN HAIRED SOCIETY**

A grizzled old man, with long silvery hair, sat slumped in an odd, obviously handmade, wooden rocking chair by a fire, sleeping. Held in his loose grasp was an old leather bound journal. The cover had been blown open by the wind revealing the name, Raven La- At this point, though, one could read no more, for some sort of liquid substance had been spilt on the book, making the pages wrinkled and warped. The man's right forefinger was holding the place for the currently sleeping reader. Just visible between the cracks of the pages was small childish handwriting:

"This is my new home…"


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

"RAVEN!" A loud yell echoed through the forest. An old man came limping down a worn trail that had been carved there by the passage of countless feet.

"RAVEN!" Again came the surprisingly loud yell from the bent old man, making the titters of a chuckling squirrel even louder. "Shut up, you!" growled the man, pointing a walking stick almost as old as he was, at the squirrel, silencing it immediately.

The man angled his face up towards the tall trees that lined the trail before shouting again. This time he drew out the length of the syllables, knowing, from past experiences that this was surely going to get him an answer.

"Raaaaaaaa-veeeeeeeeen!"

Sure enough, within seconds, a feminine voice rang out through the trees; it originated from one of the numerous treetops lining the trail instead of from the forest floor like the man's.

"I heard you the first time, you old geezer!"

"Then why don't you get your ass down here? Eh?" It was a command masked as a question and his prey knew it.

"If you insist…" came the muttered reply.

"I do insist!" Said the old man indignantly.

Suddenly a small figure with long, billowing hair, dropped out of the topmost branches of one of the tall oak trees lining the trail. As he saw the plummeting figure, a strangled gasp wrenched its way out of the old man's throat. The girl landed cat-like near the base of the tree, her long raven colored hair falling to make a veil around her face. Since the man heard no bones break, he struggled to regain his composure. As the young woman straightened, she must have caught some of the fright that had etched itself onto man's facial features a moment before, for there was laughter twinkling in her startling emerald eyes, as she said "What do you want, old man?"

"Dinner…" He mumbled weakly as he took in the wear and tear in her clothes from the day's play.

Raven possessed a face of olive colored beauty that seemed to glow with an inner light. She had large, almond-shaped, emerald colored eyes and long, black eyelashes. She would have looked the perfect mask of innocence except for the mischievous twinkle in her startling eyes. She was a relatively short girl with plain leather britches cut off rather harshly at the knees and matching leather vest that modestly covered her main proof that she was a growing woman.

Suddenly, Raven's expression changed from amusement to worry.

"I didn't scare you too bad, did I, Zacharias?" she asked seriously

"O-of course not!" Zacharias stuttered.

"Poo!" Raven said enthusiastically "I'll just have to try harder next time!"

"Crystal shine bright on me!" Zacharias muttered, looking stricken at the very thought.

Raven gave a delighted little giggle, looking satisfied and began heading noiselessly up the trail and toward the camp. Zacharias started after her wordlessly. He was still infinitely impressed at his adopted daughter's skill in forestry.

Raven had been delivered to him in the dark hours of the night 11 years ago. A note had arrived the day earlier delivered by a cheerful middle-aged man and his son. The main reason this particular memory had stayed with him all these years is because of the beautiful treasure they had so willingly given up. Another reason he remembered was because they were fair-haired, they had not bothered to hide the fact that they were, and that they were completely unmolested! No light haired humanoid walking through Thieves Forest could pass unharmed. It had been like this ever since dark haired people had been barred from the Crystal of Life.

The note had said that around midnight the next day he would be receiving a new addition to his community. Therefore, he waited to meet his new member. The next night he was dozing in his chair by a smoldering fire in his cozy, little, winter house when he was rudely awakened by a sharp knock on his door. Remembering that this was the night to receive the mysterious person, he barely stifled his annoyance. Even so, when he wrenched open his door his greeting was quite harsh.

"What do you-" he stopped short in shock. His visitor was covered from head to toe in a long, dark traveling cloak. In his arms was a relatively good-sized bundle.

"Here." Said his visitor abruptly. "She's been drugged so she'll probably put up a good fight when she wakes up." And with that, he shoved the girl into Zachariah's arms, turned on his heel, and strode off into the dark. It was only after Zacharias had set up a room for the child that he realized that there had been a single golden curl shining on the mans forehead.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2.**

It was a chill, silent, fall day and the community was out foraging for food, the women picking roots, herbs, and over-ripe berries, and the men hunting. Zacharias, now to old to participate, sat alone by the fire, snoozing.

"Raven will probably come home with a buck or two," he muttered out loud, allowing himself a small smile.

"Oh? Why do you say that?" a voice answered him.

Startled, Zacharias stood up quickly and whipped around only to come face to face with the community's seer.

"Oh, hello Martha…" he said wearily to the young face that greeted him. The only problem was that his eyes didn't seem to be able to focus on her. She had so elaborately decorated her face with tattoos and piercings that Zacharias's eyes had a tendency to slide away from it. He had some trouble trying to decide where to focus on: Her eyes, which were a dark chocolaty brown, or her lips, which were painted an obscenely bright red. Seeing her lips turned down in a frown, he decided it might be best to look at her eyes lest she decide that he was purposefully avoiding her gaze, and whatever she had to say.

"I have always respected your title, have I not, Old Leader?" She asked stiffly.

"O-of course, of course! Forgive me, One Who Sees!" Zacharias replied hastily. He had been present at the Birthing Ceremony at which she had been born and he would never be able to think of her as anything but Martha.

"I shall forgive you." Martha said rather coldy. She must have sensed his tiny withdrawal from the present.

"Now, what can I do for you, dear?" Zacharias asked.

"I have come to alert you to my growing concerns about certain male tribe members" Martha said.

"Oh, not again!" Zacharias groaned.

"YES! AGAIN! Just because I care more than you about the welfare of our world does not mean you can deny what I have seen!" Martha said furiously, firing up immediately. Zacharias stared at her intently while she struggled to control her anger.

"And how exactly would these men harm the world?" Zacharias asked quietly. Martha must not have sensed the danger in the air for she said commandingly,

"Come with me!" and she turned swiftly on her heels with her brown hair and simple white dress flaring out behind her as she walked stiffly to her little round adobe. Zacharias's eyes flashed as she turned away but he soon managed to turn the anger in to laughter, and he shook his head as he followed after her.

It had been a long time since Zacharias had last entered the Seer's house. Not much had changed. Gems, bones, and fossils were stuck to the wall with a mixture of crushed leaves and berries. Dried herbs and flowers hung from the ceiling and clay bowls of incense and colored powders littered the ground near a rock-lined fire. As Zacharias limped into the hut Martha was in flurry of motion, rummaging through cabinets and muttering to herself. Zacharias crossed his arms and stared at her bemusedly, a small smile playing at his old lips. Then she pulled out a big, magnificent, silver bowl, and looked stole a glance at him to see his reaction. Zacharias looked back at her with his bushy eyebrows raised.

"What?" Martha said indignantly.

"Nothing at all, dear, nothing at all" Zacharias sighed. The bowl was intricately carved with open eyes on the surface area of the bowl and with small flowers around the rim. Martha set the bowl down on a little wooden table and walked swiftly to a small wardrobe. She immediately pushed all of her dresses out of her way, which Zacharias noticed, were all white. She then delicately picked up a dress that was a little more elegantly designed. It had small bright flowers lining all of the edges and it had a silvery hue. As she set it on the back of her one chair, she stole another quick glance at Zacharias. She then reached up and undid the small, silver, buckles at her shoulders, let the dress slide down to her ankles and then delicately wriggled into the nicer one. Zacharias was a little surprised at this show of immodesty, but then again Seers had never been known for being modest.

Martha filled up the bowl with water from a little pitcher that was one her desk. Then she set the bowl in the ashes of the fire. She sat down and switched her gaze continually from the bowl to the old man who had slowly lowered himself in to her chair. When the water in the bowl started to simmer, she simply said, "Come"

Zacharias sighed and heaved himself up as she measured some of the colored powders that she had arranged around her.

"Now. Watch" She commanded as she slowly added the powders and began to stir them. Zacharias came to stand behind her and gasped as he saw the water ripple and change colors, molding itself into little shapes and forms. It was like watching pictures move.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Raven stood on the roof of a small cabin that was located at the far end of a little town. Her hair was dancing with the wind behind her, making it look like there was a small black cloud hovering around her head. Her arms were crossed across her chest, and frown marred her pretty face.

Raven watched as the town people scurried around stopping here and there to buy one thing or another. She came often, for she liked to watch the sun glint of the top of their heads. It was a lot different then black hair. Black hair only shone with a dull blue that was hard to see, while brunette hair was multi-dimensional. It would shine with red and blonde, and different shades of brown. It was fun to watch, because she could only see the colored tops of their heads: brown, red, and the occasional black.

She sighed. The hierarchy here was so different and ineffective then the places she had heard and read about. She tried to imagine a land where ones place in society depended on ones wealth, and not the color of your hair. Here, you had to have brown or red hair to live in a town, and the cities were only populated with blondes. It was horrible. The King and Queen, who happened to be so blonde their hair looked white, had blocked the black haired population from the Crystal of Life. That had enraged them to no end. But, though they had stopped them from going to the Crystal, they could not stop the Crystal from going to them.

Raven thought of her amazing forestry and weaponry talent. She had never practiced. She wondered if it came from the Crystal. Was it trying to tell her something? Protect her from something?

Raven was pulled out of her reverie by the sound of someone approaching her. She stood tense as a bowstring, ready to flee if it was a member of the town she had been observing. She watched intently as a young man, with a head of long, black, curly hair heaved himself onto the roof. She relaxed. It was Edmund, a handsome man who was maturing rapidly. He was broad shouldered, deep chested, and had muscular arms and legs. He also possessed deep, sapphire eyes. Raven turned and let out a soft sigh as she felt her heart flutter.

"I saw you while I was looking for bird eggs…" He said softly as an explanation, coming to stand beside her. "What's wrong?" He asked glancing at her.

"Nothing. I…I just want to leave. I want to leave in the worst possible way. And never come back." Raven said turning to face. She was greeted with a look of shock on Edmunds face.

"Why?" He asked. "Why would you want to leave?" he asked curiously, his eyebrows contracting to add to his confused look. She would have laughed if it hadn't been such a serious subject so, she sighed instead.

"I love it here. I really do. But, I can't even sleep at night, knowing that I was brought here against my will."

Now, his eyebrows rose in shock, as he exclaimed, "What? What do you mean? Why were you brought here against your will?" Raven smiled softly as she answered each of his questions.

"I was brought here against my will." She repeated. "What do I mean? I mean that somebody forcibly brought me here, and I suppose the reason they brought me here…" She hesitated, looking very sad about whatever she was about to say "…was because of the color of my hair…" She searched Edmunds face, which had taken on a concerned look when she hesitated. "This hierarchy," she continued, " is a horrible thing. Why must we be ruled by the color of our hair?" She asked heatedly, tugging on a lock of her own midnight hair.

Edmund thought for a minute, before saying, "You're right!" Raven snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Of course I'm right!" She said, and then smiled to let him know she was jesting. He returned the smile and then continued.

"I know plenty of people that would be as good or better as King then our current Lion" Raven grinned at the use of the nickname that the people of the Thieves Forest called their rulers. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he looked at her with a calculating gaze.

"How do you know you were brought here forcibly?" At this, Raven's smile disappeared.

"Because, I remember," She said coldly, "I remember a night eleven years ago, when I was playing outside in the front yard of a house. A nice house." She added. "And then, a stranger came up to me, and, as simple as that, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder." Here Edmund interrupted.

"Why didn't you just stab him or something?" he asked remembering her powress with daggers. Raven stared at him with eyes clouded with barely suppressed anger.

"I was six, you idiot! People don't carry daggers at age six!" She exclaimed furiously.

"I wouldn't put it past you…" he muttered, eyeing her warily. She stared at him angrily for a minute or two, trying decide whether to respond or continue her story. She decided to continue her story.

" I screamed, and I screamed, and I did everything in my power to make the brute let go of me. I remember looking back at the house and seeing two figures standing at the window, watching. Two blonde figures. And, though it doesn't make sense to me, I can only assume they were my parents." Again, Edmund opened his mouth to say something, most likely that it wasn't possible for two blonde parents to have a black haired child, but Raven just glared at him, effectively shutting him up. "Then," she continued after making sure he wouldn't interrupt, "Then I was forced to drink something and then I remember…nothing. Darkness. And then I woke up to find Zacharias hovering over me. Oh, what a battle we had!" She said, smiling lightly as she relived the memory.

For a while no one said anything, Raven content that Edmund didn't doubt her, and Edmund just enjoying her company. Finally, around sunset Edmund spoke.

"Well, I'd better get going" Raven opened her mouth to reply but stopped as her eyes were drawn to a subtle movement in the trees. She squinted and she could just barely make out the shapes of two or three humans up in the trees, watching them. She opened her mouth to say something about it, still keeping an eye on the watchers, but then suddenly closed it again. She couldn't decide, if she should warn him outright, or just say something hinting at a warning. As Edmund looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something, she finally said, "Uh…just watch your step."

He looked at her quizzically, but didn't take much note of her strange comment. He turned on his heel and jumped off the roof absorbing some of the shock with his legs and disappeared into the brush.

As soon as he disappeared from her sight, Raven turned back to the town. Meanwhile, the almost indefinable shapes began to shimmy down the trunk of the tree and start to head to what would most likely be Edmunds path home.


End file.
